The influence of tip clearance on performance and internal flow condition of fluid food pump using low viscous fluid

Fluid machines for fluid food have been used in wide variety of fields i.e. transportation, the filling, and for the improvement of quality of fluid foods. However, flow conditions of it are quite complicated because fluid foods are different from water. Therefore, design methods based on internal flow conditions have not been conducted. In this research, turbo-pumps having a small number of blades were used to decrease shear loss and keep wide flow passage. The influence of the tip clearance was investigated by the numerical analysis using the model with and without the tip clearance. In this paper, the influence of tip clearance on performances and internal flow conditions of turbo-pump using low viscous fluid were clarified by experimental and numerical analysis results. In addition, design methods based on the internal flow were considered. Further, the influences of viscosity on the performance characteristic and internal flow were investigated.